1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a dried non-dairy fat emulsion product suitable for use as a coffee whitener and to the method of producing the product. More particularly, the invention relates to a protein-free dried fat emulsion product, which, when reconstituted with an aqueous media, such as coffee, provides a stable oil-in-water emulsion food product.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, dried, non-dairy coffee whiteners have become of increasing importance in the food industry because of their ability to whiten coffee and their economy, taste, ease of handling and excellent shelf-life. Such dry, non-dairy coffee whiteners are prepared as an emulsion concentrate which is spray dried and, on addition to an aqueous media such as coffee or tea, form a reconstituted oil-in-water emulsion which whitens and flavors the beverage. Generally, such powdered whiteners comprise, on a dry weight basis, 25%-50% vegetable fat, 35%-65% carbohydrate (such as corn syrup solids, sucrose, etc.), 3%-12% protein, 1%-5% emulsifiers, 0.55-3% stabilizer and stabilizing salts, plus minor amounts of coloring and flavoring agents and anti-caking agents.
In such dry coffee whitener formulations, the vegetable fat or oil, which has a particle size of about 1-3 microns in diameter, provides whitening power, body and viscosity. The whitening effect is produced in coffee or tea primarily as a result of light reflected from the surface of finely emulsified fat globules The carbohydrate acts as a carrier for the fat to retard coalescense of the fat and provides some sweetness effect. Emulsifiers, such as mono-and diglycerides, diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono-and diglycerides, propylene glycol monostearate, lecithin, and the like are incorporated to maintain the fat globules in dispersion. However, it has been found that while such conventional emulsifiers are effective in stablizing the liquid emulsion concentrate prior to the drying step, they are ineffective following drying procedures. Thus, in the production of a coffee whitener, a stable liquid emulsion concentrate containing fat or oil, water and conventional emulsifier can not be dried and reconstituted in coffee to form the same stable emulsion, for upon reconstitution a breakdown of the emulsion occurs as evidenced by separation of the fat and coalescense of the fat globules, with little or no whitening of the coffee.
This problem has been overcome heretofore by including in the liquid emulsion concentrate, a water dispersible protein, such as sodium caseinate or soy protein. The inclusion of protein in the liquid emulsion concentrate has been found to be necessary to stabilize the emulsion through the drying step, so that when the dried product is reconstituted in coffee, a stable emulsion is provided.
While this use of protein in the formulation has enabled dried coffee whiteners to be prepared having excellent stability and whitening, it is disadvantageous in some respects. In formulations which contain protein, it is also common to include in the product, stabilizers, such as carrageenin, alginates, guar gum, etc., and/or stabilizing salts, such as sodium citrate, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, etc. to improve the colloidal dispersibility of the protein. The inclusion of these materials, of course, increases the cost of the dried product. Moreover, while sodium caseinate is legally defined to be a non-dairy material, its inclusion in the emulsion makes the product unacceptable to some ethnic groups. The use of other water dispersible proteins, such as soy protein, has been less than satisfactory due to off-flavors, feathering of the protein in coffee and other problems. While the prior art has proposed a number of solutions in order to reduce or eliminate protein from dried coffee whiteners, none of these prior suggestions has been completely satisfactory.